Slowing their pace, the trio navigated a labyrinth of freezing, shadowy alleyways before slipping through an rusted iron hatch into the city's subterranean sewer network. Deep within the stone tunnels, surrounded by the constant trickle of icy wastewater, the deafening alarm bells above faded into a distant murmur. Satisfied that their tracks had been thoroughly lost, they collapsed against the damp brick wall to recover their breath.
"We should be safe here for now," Kenji grunted, sliding down to sit on a dry ledge while keeping his hand resting on the Holy Sword. "Those Sentinels aren't sweeping the lower drainage yet."
Lily produced a faint, hovering orb of mana to illuminate the darkness. "We need to assess our situation. This realm's offensive capabilities are far beyond standard kingdom defenses."
"Specifically, those long-range projectile weapons," Hegemon noted, his dark eyes narrowing as he remembered the violent impact of his previous death. "High-velocity, repeating mana rifles... I didn't expect a realm like this to possess such advanced firearm technology."
Kenji looked up, eyebrows raised. "Oh, firearms aren't entirely unheard of, Hegemon. A few isolated nations produce primitive flintlocks, though most smaller realms have to borrow or trade for the tech because it's so expensive to manufacture."
Kenji paused mid-sentence, reaching up to touch his right shoulder with a slight wince. He pulled his hand back, his glove coated in a thin layer of frost. "Damn, that's cold..."
"It's enchanted ice mana," Hegemon stated calmly, having already analyzed the residual signatures from his previous loop. "They aren't firing standard elemental water rounds. The entire arsenal is built on compressed Frost Mana bullets designed to instantly freeze internal organs upon entry."
"Right, which means their arcana development is heavily skewed toward militarized cryogenic technology," Kenji muttered, rubbing his numb shoulder. "Which brings us back to the main question... why the hell did they attack us?"
Kenji leaned his head back against the stone wall, exasperated. "My theoretical point stands—King Karui might be under someone else's control. But as Hegemon said earlier, that's still an unverified hypothesis."
"Unverified, but currently the most logical explanation," Hegemon replied, leaning his chin on his hand as he pondered the political ramifications. "Consider the facts. We entered this kingdom legally, carrying official transit permits endorsed directly by the Western Kingdom's crown. Attacking an invited Hero and an official diplomatic party without cause is an open declaration of war between sovereign nations. No sane monarch would commit political suicide over three travelers unless he was either forced to... or no longer possessed a mind of his own."
"So either someone is pulling his strings from the shadows," Lily concluded softly, "or the entity sitting on that throne was never King Karui to begin with."